Now that we know it was an eight - inch steel piping thatbrought the world ’s largest - diam tunneling car to a haltup in Seattle , we can no longer fantasize about Bertha unearthing a five - taradiddle - magniloquent buried locomotive . But we can look at something almost as fascinating : The other giant holes that are currently being churned through the basics below our city .
https://gizmodo.com/we-finally-found-whats-blocking-the-worlds-largest-tunn-1494179251
With major base projects underway across the country , chances are very good that something is being hollowed out below your feet at this very minute . Here are some of the large tunnel currently under construction in the U.S.
Seattle
Until being halted by a steel wellwater casing , the tunnel boring machine ( TBM ) name Bertha was jab a two - mi tunnel for theAlaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program , remedy a double - Dekker main road along the Seattle waterfront that was damaged in the 2001 earthquake . In late December , contractors begin practice well around Bertha , removing more than 300,000 gal of waterto lower the pressure around the machine so crews could get a closer look at what we ’ll now call “ The Pipe . ” The project is still scheduled to open up in belated 2015 .
San Francisco
That political machine you see there isMom Chung , theadorable TBMthat ’s forge on theCentral Subway , a $ 1.5 billion light - rail wing that ’s the first new metro route for the city ’s municipal railway ( MUNI ) in 50 days . Along with Mom Chung ’s trusty sidekickBig Alma(Chung on southbound , Alma on northbound ) , the two machines will carve out1.7 miles of twin tunnelsbelow the live MUNI and BART argumentation . The three underground place and one above - ground place on the route from South of Market to Chinatown , will bring runway service to one of the most densely populated field in the country . The raw note is planned to open in 2019 .
New York City
One of the largest tunnels in the humanity , City Water Tunnel No . 3 , has been under construction for 43 years—43 years ! — at a price of $ 5 billion . In total , the burrow is 60 miles farsighted , and at some points travels 500 foot below the soil . The second phase angle of the tunnel , which add drinking piddle to Manhattan , opened in 2013 , with the mop up of thiscathedral - comparable spaceunder Central Park , a valve chamber for the system . The Brooklyn - Queens portion of the tunnel will be completed by 2018 , cease New York ’s largest construction labor to escort .
Las Vegas
Cleveland
ATBM named Mackenziefinished her job at theEuclid Creek Tunnelin 2013 , digging a three - mile burrow along the shoreline of Lake Erie . It ’s one of seven tunnels that are part ofProject Clean Lake , which will facilitate mitigate pollution in local watercourse by storing up to 60.5 million gallons of stormwater and wastewater . The 25 - year , $ 3 billion project will help make for the city in compliance with the Clean Water Act . It should be dispatch by 2035 .
Miami
Crews have begin place the roadways inside thePort of Miami Tunnel , which will zip cars from the city ’s port to local freeway without experience to travel on airfoil streets through downtown . Two 4,200 - foot tunnels journey below Biscayne Bay , but because of the complex geology — gentle , porous limestone — a total of18 mile of oil production were required . Most notably , in the case of a hurricane , two 50 - tonmetal gate will varnish off the burrow , prevent flooding . The tunnels will open this spring .
The long - anticipatedSecond Avenue Subwayhas been afoot , in some shape , since 1929 and is the first subway line built beneath Manhattan since 1932 . form 1 of the projection , which travel south from 96th to 63rd Street on the Upper East Side , is afoot and expected to be complete by late 2016 . One of the gravid excavations , the 86th Street Station Cavern ( and yes , it is call that ) was finished over the summertime , and now crews are work to waterproof the tunnel . That ’s only one small part of the 8.5 miles of burrow nominate to fill in the projection and connect the east side of Manhattan to the metro system of rules .
Washington DC
TheClean Rivers Projectin the DC area is presently at work on the 13 - mile - foresightful Anacostia River Tunnel which will capture and put in post - storm toilet overflow that ’s currently being drop into the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers . A TBM namedLady Bird(after the environmentally concerned first lady ) is currently digging the first four - mile portion , known as the Blue Plains Tunnel . Since being lower into service in June , Lady Bird is currently tunneling about 100 understructure a day , and before long a 2nd ( yet - unidentified ) TBM will get down burrow at the far end of the project , meeting Lady Bird at the middle . The Blue Plains Tunnel will be gross in 2015 with a organization of smaller burrow and sewer installed to help amuse the flow . The full task should be done by 2025 .
Photos byWSDOT , Central Subway , Gizmodo , SNWA , Euclid Creek , Port of Miami , MTA , DC Water
InfrastructureNew York CitySan FranciscosubwaysTunnelsunderground
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